


help! i've fallen (in love) and i can't get up!

by zukofenty



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Nurse!Katara, Nursing Home!AU, Physical Therapist!Zuko
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:20:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26592064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zukofenty/pseuds/zukofenty
Summary: The one where the entire nursing home really wants Zuko to (finally) ask the pretty nurse out on a date.“...And then he tore open my bra like it was a social security check.”
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 151
Collections: Zutara Fluff Exchange





	help! i've fallen (in love) and i can't get up!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [allthewaydown](https://archiveofourown.org/users/allthewaydown/gifts).



> hi omg based on this tiktok!!!! (ao3 u bitch! not letting me link shit) https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJDTKHAj/  
> 
> 
> sorry this is a little bit over the word count omg I love you!!!!!

“...And then he tore open my bra like it was a social security check.” 

Katara feels herself gag, just a bit, and it wasn’t because her task for the day was rubbing calcipotriene cream on Kyoshi’s genital psoriasis. “ _Please stop_. I’m begging you.” 

Kyoshi sticks out her tongue, petulant as ever. “You’re just mad that you have a dehydrated ass pussy.” She says, nary a fuck in sight. 

Katara gasps and feels her hands twitch, but instead of being two seconds away from fighting the elderly, she freezes the cup of water Kyoshi elected to take a sip out of. As her tongue is firmly attached to the block of ice, Kyoshi does the most reasonable thing she could think of, and bends a ball of soil from her succulent.

“ _Ouch_.” Katara huffs, clutching her tit. 

Remind me, who said it wasn’t okay to fight old people again? 

When Katara signed up as a nurse’s aide at the White Lotus Nursing Home, she thought it’d be an easy job. 

Her grandmother Kanna had adamantly refused to live at any nursing home (she said they smelled like mayonnaise and old bitch). Katara was left to take care of her most of the time, especially with Sokka busy starting his YouTube Mukbang career. When she applied for the position, she thought she already had the experience down pat. Plus, working at the nursing home meant she could fulfill her med school application clinical experience requirement with some money for tuition. 

A win-win situation. 

Then again, no one really ever told her the amount of _shit_ she’d have to deal with. _Literal shit_ , too. Grandpas and grandmas smelling like gingerbread houses and moths are endearing and all, up until they’re making snowmen out of their poop. 

“So, why do you need to visit the physical therapist today?” Katara’s always been the type to make her lists and check them twice. She’s tapping her pen (Muji, of course) impatiently as the woman rubs at her chin, ruminating on it, as though she hasn’t been vehemently complaining since Katara walked in the room. 

“Carrying around this disgustingly juicy WAP around has my back aching.” 

Katara scoffs before helping Kyoshi to her walker.

Katara was a lot of things. Possessor of voluminous hair, a Kia Soul owner, someone who (occasionally) pretended she never received her Amazon order and has customer support on speed dial to get a full refund as a big _fuck you_ to Jeff Bezos. 

But she wasn’t stupid. 

“Uh oh! Boner alert!” Kyoshi yelps, startling nearly everyone in the room. 

“Thank you for saying that every time you see me, Kyoshi.” Zuko says, expression melting into a genuine smile when Kyoshi blows a kiss his way.

Katara had seen the uptick in requests ever since _he_ was hired. Nearly every single patient personally requested Zuko, despite him being just Iroh’s aide. She’s had to visit him _at least_ twenty times this week alone. All of them _obviously_ had a crush on him, right?

She didn’t see the appeal. It wasn’t like she was attracted to his handsome features that looked more picturesque than human, or the rasp of his voice, or the way he has everyone’s birthdays carefully mapped out in an Excel spreadsheet so he could bake banana bread for their special day. 

“H-here!” Zuko blurts out, a hand coming out to Katara’s shoulder. It’s still warm from the massage he was giving Kyoshi, and has her freezing up. “Y-You dropped this.” In his sweaty hand was her pen, which he promptly shoves in her face. 

“Thanks!” Katara shrugs, going back to filling out paperwork and completely ignoring the bumbling boy beside her. It’s hard to formulate a thought when just her sweet smile alone makes his throat go as dry as a pussy with a PH-imbalance.

_Oh my Rihanna_. 

Kyoshi was losing it, but she wasn’t about to lose the bet she’s made with Lo and Li. 

It wasn’t hard to miss the looks Zuko’s sent Katara since the moment he was hired, the determination in his brow when he finally gets the confidence to speak to her, only to stumble through some sentence that has her politely nodding along (confused as ever). 

He was just...always there. In his skittish, wide-eyed way. Her lunch breaks somehow always accompanied with him _accidentally_ packing too many gourmet-level sandwiches he spent two hours overthinking the sequence of ingredients. 

_“Fuck! Does she like pesto?”_

While Zuko has his heart determinedly on his sleeve, Katara remained blissfully unaware. Somehow always missing his awkward shuffling and his ugly wrapped gifts (he drove two hours downtown just to buy in bulk the specific pens she liked to use for her birthday).

He was convinced he was making her uncomfortable. 

_“Is it because I mentioned the rats in my apartment are on ritalin_?” He asked Kyoshi in secret one day. He was an oversharer when he had a crush. 

“ _No more interacting with men. I am at capacity._ ” Katara emphasized, with conviction. But while Zuko had a more noisy appearance in the beginning, Kyoshi saw the shift. The moment he gave Katara the space, Kyoshi could see her staring at the doorway, as if it would make him appear to ask her about her day and walk her to her car.

Operation: Make Sure Zuko and Katara Go To Bonetown, was moving too slowly for Kyoshi’s tastes. 

“ _Sweetheart_ ,” she croons, and it’s saccharine enough to make Katara’s throat hurt. Of course, it’s directed at Zuko. “Can you hand me a walker?” 

When the device is in her hands, Kyoshi gets up slowly, too slowly. Everyone was preoccupied, Katara with her little clipboard, Zuko with his usual staring at Katara. 

_Good_.

The universe typically looked down on old women just because gravity made their tits make eye contact with pennies on the ground, but they were a lot smarter and _stronger_ than most people gave them credit for.

“ _What the fuck!_ ” Katara screeches at the top of her lungs. 

Kyoshi was on X-Games mode, swinging the walker towards Katara’s ribcage. 

“Are you ok?” Zuko rushes out quickly. Katara gingerly opens her eyes to see he’s slammed against a wall, underneath her to cushion her fall. He’s wincing as she shifts in his lap. Not because of the pain, or anything. (To prevent an accidental hard-on, he’s thinking of the time he shaved Iroh’s pubes). 

“You look, um. H-hurt.” She squeezes out. Water easily comes to her hands and she’s searching throughout his body and finally, his face, for any sign of pain. “Does it hurt?” She internally groans. _Of course it fucking hurts, bitch! You’re squishing his dick!_

All he can do is shake his head furiously. He’s so close to her he can see those doe eyes flitting about, concern painting her features. Everything about her is _soft_. The cashmere sweater she threw over her scrubs, her waist he’s holding onto that fits just right in his hands. As hard as he tries, he can’t stop smiling. 

“I’m not hurt.” He lies. 

“ _Really?_ ” She’s entirely skeptical. “Promise?” 

He nods with finality. “Promise.” 

“Good.” She breathes. “Can’t have you out of commission. I mean, I’d miss you...r paninis too much. You know.” She gestures wildly. “The pesto.” She prays to Rihanna he didn’t notice her mistake. 

He heard it. 

“Right.” He brings her closer so he could look at that pretty face for a moment more. He likes the way she holds onto his chest for balance, and how she automatically licks her lips. “The pesto.”

**Author's Note:**

> hi loves! long time no see!!!!!! I miss you all so much!!! tell how's life? how's everything? this is a safe space! are you ok? I'm rooting for you!!! I love you all ugh I miss you all!!!
> 
> bc I just realized I can't name the chapter title this chapter will be known as The B(old) and the Beautiful!!!


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